Once upon a time, there lived a witch up on the highest hill in Pretoria. She lived all alone, in a high tower made of stone. The only company she cared to keep was a black leopard she called “leppie”. Although on one particular night, fair was foul and foul was fair as her ways were soon to change. The lightning struck fiercely through the dark clouds as the gusting wind cast the tower of divination too and fro. “What!?” the witch spat out as she peered into her crystal ball. A ball which she reserved solely for demystifying the future of her Kruger visits. It was always the night before a Kruger visit that she would use her witchly powers to foresee the best roads to take on her journey. Yet on this fateful night, what she saw in the ball gave her such a fright that it caused her to knock over an entire bottle of Amarula! (a precious ingredient for all magical potions). The disturbed Heksie sunk down in a fire side couch and mused over what she had just seen. Scrolling through her Blackberry contacts (she was not one of the J.K. Rolling type witches who shunned modern technology) and found a face which matched what the Crystal Ball showed her. It was at this freak moment in time that the witch did something spontaneous and completely out of sorts. She sent a BBM to the contact asking “Hey parra cheetah … do you want to come to Kruger with me tomorrow?”. The words were barely through when she wondered what she had just done! For she hardly knew the person she was inviting. To her knowledge, all the lad did was kiss flocks of tannies of the cheeks for money! The worried witch hardly had time to contemplate all the grave possibilities when the Lion replied “That would be fantastical. I've got my Labels and my wild card! Lets go!” The Witch got dressed for success in her Purple Kruger Best She decided to leave behind all traces of witchlyness and go fetch the Lion in her car. For one last piece of magic, she shrunk three well known figures in the land of Mites and placed them on the dashboard. She packed the car full of Amarula and was off! For a fleeting moment the Heksie thought she had lost her marbles! Little did she know, that this Lion and Witch partnership would leave the marbles lost forever!

Welcome aboard Morkel! Although I believe in this instance, we can replace the word bus with broom!

I do not know who have you have been reading the topic breaking the rules?? But you will find that they are very liberal with regards to traveling through the park on a broom! This makes the Heksie very pleased with life! She on occasion does the forward flapping flying style when she is really enjoying herself She sometimes even does the whole surfing thing!So you can get on the TR broom! But it is unpredictable and often directed in random directions

normana53 wrote:OK, you've cast us all under your spell, now don't hold us suspended - er, in suspense, while you stir the cauldron of potions and concoctions brewing up your Kruger tales....or is it Kruger Tails?

As mr Cheetah mentioned I had to do some hocus pocus and shrunk some mites to join us on our adventure...

So here are the mites, hope they can still be identified as I'm only a apprentice witch

The first day starts without any hassles and we begin our first journey together in the Kruger after I transformed my broom into because nothing are allowed to protrude out of your vehicle (which is a bit difficult with a stick)... We enter the Kruger and lion is very quiet while we search for waking animals and I'm so excited that I'm in the Kruger that I can't keep myself in, but to keep the peace I stay silent. The roads are rather quiet but I just believe Miss Kruger is keeping her best for a bit later

As the sun comes up the lion warms up to me The first thing that catches our eyes are the light shining on golden orb webs and I am transfixed by the beauty of nature and how lucky we are to experience it, that web also produces a massive spider, which I wouldn't like to greet on foot.

A lot of chit chat starts and even because we didn't see a lot of animals we do enjoy the surroundings and the smell and feel of the Kruger. I had to stop a few times to pick up some garbage-I only opened my door but didn't leave the car... I know that it isn't right but leaving glass bottles in the road and plastic bags next to road is a bigger no-no to me!

We have a quick loo break at the beautiful Nkuhlu and are entertained by these rascals.

We walk around the picnic area and take in the beauty , it is quiet, we sit and listen to the sabie river rushing past us and contemplate what roads we want to take while hoping to spot an otter ,after about 20 minutes no road has called us yet and the otters are hiding from us. We give up and decide to just get in the car and trust our instincts. But we are still enthusiastic as the day is still young and the Kruger never disappoints.

Heksie wrote:The first day starts without any hassles and we begin our first journey together

It is interesting that you say that Witchlyness I seem to remember a certain hassle It did not anticipate this though when I woke up at Dawn's crack to the welcoming odor of coffee drifting merrily through to the attic where I was stashed away for the night I struggled down the rickety stairs towards the alluring trap! It was much to my surprise when I found nobody was there who made this coffee But then I remembered who I had embarked on this holiday with Despite the suspicious circumstances of finding coffee standing ready for me without a trace of its maker, I trusted it was made with the kindheartedness one could expect from the Ravenclaw witch. BUT when I tasted it, this coffee turned out to be far from ordinary For the moment the liquid reached my lips it was clear to me that I had been served a cup of magic milk coffee OF DEATH! half water, half magic milk And as you know, I do not drink alcohol!

In drifted the enchantress looking as bright as a daisy with an innocent smirk masking her clearly mischievous morning witchery I could hardly be upset with the witch though. I simply don't have the energy to confront in the early morning I did however need to pluck up some energy out of thin air soon afterwards! For it did not not occur to me initially, that Witches do not have a firm grasping of the operating of cars! Leaving the lights on for an extended period of time does lead to a flat battery And at the worst time of day, I had to prove my resourcefulness to get this drained white fiat started

Still, despite my heroic efforts before the sun came up the Witch did not give me a moments peace in my grumpy time

All that aside, I was delighted to see the Golden Orbs! It was the witchly one herself who asked "How many golden orbs are there in Kruger?" Just another series of pointless questions that I had been obliged to answer from when we entered Paul Kruger Gate My "I don't knows" had transformed into impatient "I-RO-NO's" at this point. So I agreed to join her quest to investigate Golden Orb numbers. More about the Golden Orb Census later in the trip

By the time we had finished watching the Minkey brothers have a go at each other, my morning grump period was over! In a way I am not surprised Son Godin thought Heksie and I to be siblings

There we were, riding gracefully along Monkey town road , when all of a suddenly Hermion Heksie slams on brakes as if trying to snap the broom! I barely manage to hold my grip on the Nimbus2000 when I am barked at to GET THE CAMERA! Only to find the breakneck experience was on account of a Marshmallow Evilusually when the brakes are being tested, it is for these evil marshmallows

I was pleased therefore for a gradual slowing down of the broom when we approached this dam on Monkey lane to see this big fat Crockarock! Now I have found there is one thing that really annoys parra Heksie And that is to write or recite poetry

How doth the little crocodileImprove his shining tail,And pour the waters of the NileOn every golden scale!How cheerfully he seems to grin,How neatly spreads his claws,And welcomes little fishes inWith gently smiling jaws!

But what happened next would turn that frown, upside down Shimmering in the tar road ahead was a plastic bottle So the Heksie does what she always does in such cases. Stops the broom next to the object, and picks it up to throw it in our rubbish bag. 10 points to Ravenclaw Although this plastic bottle contained something which we would rather not bring into the car For no sooner had I stored away the bottle in the bag, than I peered inside for a second look to my absolute horror! I had just handled someones urine that they have thrown out of their carIt was not SOOO bad we thought. Just some natural liquid. Plus we had just rescued it from being in the Park

I momentarily wished I were this Hippster blob just give my hands a quick wash thoughThe talk of the Heskie landing herself in the Name and Shame Gallery continued past this SteenAnd then the sun really started to beat down on us! Fortunately these Terry's were here to sing us the H10 song in three part harmony!

And it was at the time of observing their shiny shells that I decided to put some sun cream on my left arm to avoid that one arm tan Kruger gives I take a huge amount of lotion out of the tub and smack it onto my arm as a thick layer! I noticed the smell of the sun cream was not what I expected I looked down at the footwell where everything is stored, and found that Random Person's urine had soaked through to the sun cream tub Well there was no point in being all upset about it, so I just happily spread some urine based sun cream on my arm in liberal proportions In fact, I offered some to the Heks. "Do I really have to put on Urine sun cream" She asked looking disgusted"Well you are either out ... or Urine" I laugh at my own joke!And so began our Urine team bonding experience holiday

the leaves have spoken...So at Lower Sabie the urine scented combo are sitting at a fork in the road... What direction do we want to take? Croc Bridge or Tshokwane? Witchy makes a cup of tea and read the leaves and it shows a distinctive So off on the H10 we went... We decide that cause we have time to spare and that it was such a beautiful day that we want to sommer take the S29 to Mlondozi, haven't seen the place since December and want to check how it filled up with the flood. One of our passangers got restless and wanted to spread some legs at Mlondozi so we had to take a pic of Aussie Babe

We sat and enjoyed wind blowing past us taking the smell of urine in another direction. There were a couple having breakfast next to us and the next sighitng just took our breath away! We were still sitting and chatting when a whole pride of lions pitched up, they were very close and i was so dumbstuck that Mr Cheetah took the kiekies...Here is a little cub that tried to climb a tree

And a lioness having something to eat

Now I don't know why these kiekies aren't depicting the truth(maybe it was the monkey -donkey potion i gave Cheetahkie?)

The couple next to us starting getting restless-maybe because of the wind blowing tin thier direction and started shooting stones our way with a kettie so we decided to move one.

We got to see some ostriches and another passenger starting to take over the car just to get in a pic with one of her favorite animals... This is WFG protruding out of the vehicle...

and some ostriches in a close up

On the H10 there weren't a lot of sightings but definitely too much poetry...

We see a waterbuck

and a beautiful kudu ewe with great signal, that was the only spot where we got any cellphone reception... maybe it was because of those dishes on the kudu?

But we were not the only ones talking lots It was about the time when we approached the open Mlondozi grasslands when a certain flower on the dashboard began to galvanize into action. The flower waddled free from the enslavement of prestick and made her way in an Indiana Jones sort of way, on to the side mirror! To show us the Ostriches Wildflowergirl with her Ostriches

It is carved in Stone that Wildflowergirl's Ostrich rule shall be implemented for the 2013 Auctions. Deriving from the belief that Ostriches can swallow a R5 coin whole, it is said that it is only just that an auction rule be put in place that bids must be raised by a minimum of an Ostrich unit! So R5! Wildflowergirl is somewhat of what experts call "An Ostrich Whisperer". There at Mlondozi the people even asked "did you see the WFG factors" Little did they know that the Shrunken version of the Ostrich Queen travels with us throughout the trip

After loading Aussie babe back in to the car, something had clicked in the minds of the Lion and the Witch respectively. Perhaps it was triggered by the way the Lion smeared on another basting of Urine based sun cream on his left arm ... or perhaps it was the way in which The Witch placed Aussie kuala babe so gingerly on the dashboard; almost as if rough treatment would be met by protest. One thing had become apparent though, the our Marbles were long lost somewhere between Paul Kruger Gate and Mlondozi Picnic Site. A thought shared which erupted in simultaneous bouts of laughter!

Onward the Heksie drives the Fiat Northwards! A decision which took a two minute debate at Lower Sabie a while ago! For the Heksie wanted to head towards Croc Bridge But the Lion wanted to go North to Tsokwane At the end of the day it was the humble witch who gave in Now enchanted transportation headed up to see what awaited us.

Firstly, a lonely Willie in the lonesome Mlondozi grass looking ostrichwards for company!

Reaching the tar road this ground hornbill trotted by looking for something to devour! Yet for all of our stopping I noticed something peculiar No matter how many times we position our third Lion Mite to face the road like she should, she kept looking my way as if trying to communicate with me. Lion to Lion So I told the Heksie ...L: "We should go past Tsokwane" W: "Wat nou parra?" (what now froggy)L: "She told me we must go past Tsokwane!" W: "I thought we taking the H1-2 home? And who are you talking about?" L:" I'm talking about the shrunken lion on the dashboard parrapoppie"W: "oh! Well in that case we shall!" L: "Here. Have some more urine cream"

One has to place confidence in a shrunken Lion on the dashboard at all times the elders always say. And I had a good feeling about this as we passed this Cuuuuute Kuiken!

Just before Tsokwane this Saddle Billed was a good Omen!

All was quiet up until Mazithi dam! Where we were greeted by Grey Heron, Rhonnies, a Nelly, Zebalebs, Waterbuck and Willies!

Just when the game was getting good, our Shrunken lion started spinning in circles Signalling us to turn around! Well we do obey these wise words and are rewarded! For coming to walk past the car was The Meneer!!And he was with his Mistress!

The honeymoon couple settled into the long grass. No action anytime soon. So I asked the Witch if she was content to wait, to which she replied the most off answer - "Well I have a bladder of steel"

While we waited there with the car turned off we could hear the low growls of a male Lion who was most content in life! Cutting out the story of how we went against the grain of the traffic jam (perhaps the Heksie will tell that) the most brilliant turn of events 25 minutes later!!

The following is sequence is R18. Parental Guidance is advised for viewers under 18

A mounting of power!An ear nibble for romanticism!An injection with a roar!Yeahhh who is the King? The Lioness was quite finished after that ordeal

Firstly I want to add that after this TR I will give you guys the true version of what happened with this whole lion love liaison...But for now we left these loving golden kitties because we didn't want to hog this special sighting all for ourselves, we had front row seats, what more can somebody ask for? So we make u-ie and move on and all that we talk about is...And I looked like this the whole time So we take the H1-2 back to the Kruger Gate and are very lucky sighting wise, we see a lot of animals-not the ones that people jump up and down for but I stop for every animal and I take pics...We didn’t see anything so we decided to go chill at Leeupan-now this place is very special and ou Cheetahkie just captured its beauty in one kiekieWe spent a good amount of time there just taking in the serene scene and appreciating the beauty of nature, there were a few duckies as well...White faced ducks

Grey HeronJacanaIt really is a birders paradiseWe saw a European Bee eater as we left and a cute squirrel

We had some good juju there at Leeupan, I don’t know but we enjoyed the drive a lot.A Steenbokkie

We stopped at Kruger tablets because Aussie girl wanted to stretch her legs and another pic taken of her, and cause Cheetah would do everything for her except maybe push me of the broom with a lot of moaning I had to stop... Who can spot the babe????

On the high-water bridge over the Sabi river we were caught in some monkey businessWe left the Kruger very satisfied with our daily sightings, we were very entertained in Monkey town, we were urine stained and had a run in with kitieography... Me myself and I made a hoenderpotjie the way only a witch knows how while i drank Amarula and cheetahkie a coke... The night ended early as we almost passed out before the food was ready and with tummies full and happy minds me dosed off into dreamland...

hilda wrote:Thanks for another entertaining instalment Heksie! Those Leeupan pictures are awesome Cheetah2111!

Hope you didn't get out of the car at the Kruger tablets?! Love your Monkey pics too, and the cute Steenbokkie!

Heksie has this cunning way of giving me all the credit Generally, during the trip I would shoot if the aMiNals were my side, and she would shoot if it was her side We both shoot with Cannon D500 so you will struggle to tell apart and Heksie from a Cheetah pic She tends to shoot on 'sports mode' shooting a zillion and three pics a second From mating lions to squirrels ... they get the photo mad treatment I shoot on other settings and only take 1 pic of an animal usually She always would ask me H: "have you got it?" C:"Ja I've got a pic". H: "But what about from this angle?" C: "Its still the same animal from that angle" H: "so what if that one pic is bad"C: "no kiekie no cry"

anyway, back to leeupan ... she kindly parked the magical fiat so that leeupan was my side. So ja here at leeupan a lot of the kiekies I took. But I like to just refer to them all as OUR kiekies (why do I fell like a four year old when I say kiekie?)

An alarm goes off next to the bed to signal a new day at Sabi Park! !!This is usually the dark time before the morning where I prefer a steamy shower and the waft of coffee beans drifting past my nostrils! The difference between coffee or no coffee is the difference between being jolly and grumpy in the morning! I stepped into the bathroom to have a shower so I can sommer be fresh for another day in Kruger! I turn the hot tap on so that it can warm up so long while I whip off my kit and start brushing my teeth. My toothbrush hung lifelessly in my mouth however when I turned around to observe a distinct lack of steam being emitted from the shower! I took the plunge to stand under the drops of ice daggers for as short and amount of time as possible! Came rushing out in a huff and a puff less than ready for the day only to see the Heksie is all ready with camera in hand wanting to go! Coffee?

Well off we were. I don't think witches need any sleep at all! This witch was in her Kruger purple best and as bright as a daisy! My brain was coffeeless and slow! Every now and then I would vaguely glance in the direction of the moving lips and nod and grunt giving my best attempt of giving the illusion that I'm keeping up! Soon enough the drive from Sabie Park to Paul Kruger was complete and we were entering the Park!!!I put on my camera on my lap and stare intently out of my passenger window! I zone in to what the Heksie is saying for a fleeting moment ...“I've seen leopard before just here” says the Heksie. I stick my nose ti the window and focus hard on trying to find a leopard for TODAY

I also decide to take a pic or two of the sunrise on the H11!

The Golden Glow stretching across the sky as the rays of the peak out above the tall trees!By the time we reached Skukuza was well and truly up! This brought new energy to my bones! As if I am run on solar energy

The first animal of the morning light was a vlakkie for tannie V!

Aunty Val's European Roller also came to sing us a song for the morning!

It soon became apparent that the Heksie was heading Southwards down the H3. “are you searching for EJ the brave?” I joked with her All sorts of aMiNals were popping out keeping me very busy! I have an animal list to tick off and as soon as there is a sighting Heksie is quick to remind me … have you written that down parra?? The next sighting which she nagged me about was these Southern Ground Hornbills!

They had something odd in their mouths. It looked similar to a huge piece of billtong! I wonder if they migrated down from Shingwedzi?

We were blessed with Miss Graceful next!! She loves to strip to tips of the long grass for its nutrients!

Next thing a big 4x4 pulled up next to us and started chatting to us! She pulled up next to Heksie and just started chatting about a gun she had to deliver! She also felt she didn't need to introduce herself or ask any names In a jiffy she was off again! And Heksie just sat still almost stunned! H: Who was that? C: your hero. The Marula and cricket ball lobber. EJ the braveH: How could you stoep so low, EJ?C: I'll write that down parra!

We laughed about the experience all the way down to Afsaal! Where we had a squeaky experience

So as we stop at Afsaal my pride and joy Squeeky starts complaining about the heat we can’t even breathe and then you hear ‘squeak squeak’ now imagine winding up the mirrors... I couldn’t even stand next to poor old squeakems and then she started moaning... We started losing it just laughing at this randomness we stock up on some refreshments, droewors and cold drinks and decide that we are going to Malelane... As we leave Afsaal there is a huge roadblock and we go check what is waiting for us A huge herd of grazers

They keep us busy for quite a while when Cheetah reminds me that time is standing still for no one even when you are having fun. We take the H3 to Malelane, I just had one request that we don’t take the horrible Biyamiti road as it gives my car the rittelings and my lock of my boot got loose again We turn at renoster pan hoping to see some renosters but all we got was a massive potholes that almost swallowed poor squeaky and as we are avid dung spotters, we were mesmerised by how live can sprout out of shite and a whole conversation and a lot of laughs erupted. What entertained us there is forgotten, could be of all the coke and all is left is a dungtree as evidence... We turn back and continue on the H3 and on one of the bridges our eagle eyed cheetah spots a spiderWe turn onto a dirt road which has slipped my mind, that is a good too as we saw a beautiful grey specimen on it and this meneertjie was so chill and calm that we enjoyed this time with him a lot, looks like he enjoyed it a lot as well

This road was such a lekker chilled out road where we just enjoyed nature and everything that it has to offer, there were no need for cats or big 5. Anything that the road showed us made us happy and grateful of the time we were able to spend in such a magnificent place.A tortie in the roadA flower for our own V’mite WFG A rockjumpertjieOur special moment will be continued by our own pojetic mr Cheetah that has a way with his words.